Sign in

Please complete all fields in the form to login.
Username and password fields are case sensitive

If you have forgotten your username or password please use
the forgotten your username/password link below.

Remember me, by ticking the box you
are confirming you are happy for your details to be remembered
and used the next time you use this computer to visit
eFinancialNews.com. By doing this, you'll be able to access
restricted content without logging in each time you
visit the site.

Draghi defends ECB bond buying plan

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi on Wednesday launched a vigorous defence of his new bond-purchase programme unveiled last month before German lawmakers, seeking to quiet fears over the central bank's expanding role in battling the euro crisis.

In an opening statement ahead of his meeting with members of Germany's Parliament in Berlin, Draghi said that he is “here to listen to your views on the ECB, on the euro-area economy and on the longer-term vision for Europe".

The Italian-born central banker repeatedly stressed three themes: that the bond buying plan was necessary to smooth fragmented financial markets; that it doesn't violate ECB rules against financing governments; and that it won't divert the central bank's attention from its primary mission to keep prices stable.

For now, the greater risk isn't a surge in prices, but rather "falling prices in some euro-area countries", Draghi argued, assuring that the citizens of the euro area can be “confident that we will remain permanently alert to risks to price stability".

Separately, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday said that it would maintain its policy of ultra-low interest rates until mid-2015, and reiterated its plan outlined in September to keep buying bonds in an open-ended manner.